Can lightning strike twice? Can Oldham do it again by beating Everton, having
seen off Liverpool in the last round? Well, it is certainly possible if they
play with the same determination and intensity on a less than perfect pitch,
backed by a noisy crowd at Boundary Park.

Under those circumstances, any chink in the attitude of their Premier League visitors will be exposed in this FA Cup fifth-round tie. But that is the thing about Everton. They have an old-school manager in David Moyes who has some old-school players to call upon.

Phil Neville, Phil Jagielka, Leighton Baines and Leon Osman do not need to be told what to expect. These English boys have been brought up with the Cup, they have played in plenty of matches when you simply have to dig in and scrap for your lives before even thinking about silky football.

That did not seem to be the case with Sebastian Coates and Fabio Borini, two of the Liverpool lads who came up well short in the last round. And that is another thing: this is a big competition for Moyes. He is not likely to take chances with his team selection, having got his fingers burnt doing that in the Capital One Cup tie at Leeds in September.

Since then, his teams have been strong ones against Cheltenham and Bolton in the FA Cup. As a result, you do get the feeling that Everton will prove much more stubborn opponents than their Merseyside rivals. Better prepared, too, having had the advantage of studying Oldham’s strengths and weaknesses in this kind of match.

What is more, the side Moyes puts out will surely be better equipped to cope with those long balls punted into the box where Matt Smith’s aerial power did so much to disturb and defeat Brendan Rodgers’s team. Between them, Jagielka and Sylvain Distin look better suited to cope with all the physical stuff.

One complication, however, is Oldham’s capture of some loan players since the fourth round. Just before leaving his post, Paul Dickov brought in Jordan Obita from Reading, Chris Iwelumo from Watford and Lee Barnard from Southampton, the latter two forming a new strike partnership. Not only that, Barnard has scored in both of his outings while Iwelumo managed to notch in last week’s much-needed win against MK Dons.

Consequently, caretaker manager Tony Philliskirk has one or two options for this evening’s game. Smith, the two-goal hero against Liverpool, will obviously come into the equation if the 6ft 4in forward has recovered from a shoulder injury, while the form of the loan players must be considered.

You would certainly expect Philliskirk to pick either Iwelumo or Smith, if not both, to give the team some physical presence, especially at set-pieces. Because these situations, against better teams, can so often turn into the underdogs’ best chance of a breakthrough. The quality of delivery becomes crucial. If it is not right, another chance goes begging.

So step forward Jose Baxter, the 21-year-old midfielder brought up at Everton. His ability to ping low-flighted free-kicks towards his target can give any opponent plenty of problems.

Baxter, quite naturally, will be fired up. But if the Bootle-born schemer can keep his head, he might just be able to make Everton’s day that little bit more uncomfortable.

Rodgers' project takes shape - but will it be good enough?

Thanks to Oldham, Liverpool find themselves involved in the weekend’s only Premier League fixture. It is a chance to get back on track following two bad 2-0 defeats, the home loss to West Bromwich Albion and Thursday’s Europa League defeat at Zenit St Petersburg.

And what do you know? Brendan Rodgers must try to seek improvement against his old club, who have hardly suffered from his departure. Swansea, in fact, have gone from strength to strength under Michael Laudrup, while Rodgers pursues his Anfield ‘project’.

And part of that plan is to recruit his kind of player, the sort who can fit the Rodgers blueprint. The early signs suggest Daniel Sturridge can do that, whereas two other Rodgers recruits, Joe Allen and Fabio Borini, still have much to prove.

And now comes another in the shape of Philippe Coutinho, a slight but talented dribbler from Inter Milan. Coutinho has a chance of starting his first game for Liverpool to possibly form a new-look attack.

Slowly but surely, this is turning into a team moulded by Rodgers. The Irishman must hope it proves good enough.